It’s hard to believe Kiwi Landing Pad is over 3 years. Since quietly launching in July 2011 there has been an enormous amount of change in the Kiwi technology and startup ecosystem.
Our first residents were the advance guard for Xero’s US market entry followed shortly afterwards by Magritek, Vend, and Mako Networks.
Since then we’ve hosted over 300 New Zealand entrepreneurs and organisations from the very large multinational business to the “just an idea” stage.
Through events, introductions and just having a presence in the heart of the action the feedback we receive consistently is that we have provided something of value and increased understanding and opportunity for the majority of our community.
As interest in technology startups has grown so has activity in the sector which, overall, provides positive benefits for aspiring and existing Kiwi entrepreneurs.
On the less positive side it does provide some challenges for people trying to figure how all of the resources and support work and who they are targeted at helping.
With this in mind and given our graduation from the “establishment phase” after three years we think it’s time to spend some explaining more about what Kiwi Landing Pad is intended to do and proactively share more commonly requested advice and information.
So here is what you can expect in the future from the Kiwi Landing Pad team and community:
- Refreshed San Francisco Office - Cleaner, greener environment with more efficient working and meeting spaces. We’ve also opened up the roof space of the building formally with a new staircase which will shortly have a decking area installed for outdoor meetings and events.
- Re launch of community events - Sian will be leading a programme of events within the Kiwi Landing Pad community in NZ and San Francisco kicking off with our Christmas get together on the 10th of December. More on that from Sian later.
- Increase in content - we will be sharing more answers to our “FAQ’s”, getting Kiwi and Local Entrepreneurs and Investor’s views on key topics, regularly updating on events of interest to the community in NZ and San Francisco
- New programmes - look out for new programmes and support in 2015 for digital companies and entrepreneurs/executives to experience Silicon Valley first hand and accelerate their progress by doing so.
I’m excited about our new approach and plan and as always we welcome your feedback and ideas to further enhance it. Sian and I look forward to bringing you more details soon!
All of the companies, both residents and alumni are alive and kicking today and generally flourishing in their chosen markets leading by example encouraging more Kiwi entrepreneurs to think more broadly about global expansion and growth.
Kiwi Landing Pad’s core mission remains the same as it was at launch - provide a cost-effective initial base for New Zealand startups from which to expand out into the wealth of growth accelerants within the Bay Area and indeed the USA.
It was a rather contentious call to establish the Landing Pad in San Francisco city and more so the rather salubrious area known as South of Market (SoMA) as opposed to the traditionally obvious “Silicon Valley”. Today however the decision has turned out to have been the right one with the heart of SaaS and Cloud Computing established and growing around our location.
We are passively excited for what the new year will bring. Greater success, connection and collaboration, bring it on.